


Zen can love one (1) cat

by Pozolegirl



Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: Cat, Kitten, Kittens, This is probably the most adorable fic I've ever written, kitten rescue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-03
Updated: 2018-09-03
Packaged: 2019-07-06 06:26:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15880404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pozolegirl/pseuds/Pozolegirl
Summary: Zen hates cats, but he's a good person who would never leave a little abandoned kitten out in the rain.Zen hates cats but maybe this one is okay.Alright, Zen hates cats but this one DOESN'T COUNT and he LOVES IT.





	Zen can love one (1) cat

“Auugh this rain is going to make my hair all frizzy.” Zen muttered as he tried to lift his jacket up over his head, running through the rain. The weatherman had been wrong today, and his nice walk home had turned into a mad dash to avoid becoming completely soaked. Zen was nearing his apartment when he slowed down, knowing he’d have to shower anyways and just deciding to enjoy the rain. He still kept his jacket up over his head as he walked on, avoiding puddles and muddy spots. 

Then he heard a soft quiet sound, making him stop. It sounded like someone crying very faintly. He looked around, only seeing an empty trashy alleyway beside him, and the empty road on the other side. He heard the soft noise again and then a realization hit him and the hairs on his arm began to stand up from a chill. 

“Oh no...” he narrowed his eyes, looking more towards the ground, searching for what he knew had to be a stupid cat. Just the thought of it made his nose start to itch, although it was hard to feel too dry and irritated when there was rain water dripping off of his face. 

“Where are you... if you’re that neighbors cat I should go tell him that his cat got out at least-” he stopped when he saw a pile of newspapers shift a little, and heard a tiny mew again. He grit his teeth and stooped down, reluctantly getting close to the moving pile of trash. The mew was so tiny, he knew it had to be a kitten. Zen carefully picked at the top piece of newspaper, moving it away to reveal what had to be a fairly young kitten. 

“Auugh.... Why me.” He sighed under his breath, looking at the weak wiggling form. It was kind of ugly. It’s eyes were still partly closed and it’s mouth looked pinkish and red. It was all white, which unfortunately reminded him of another cat he had to deal with far too much. It was drenched with rain water, which probably was why it looked so wretched.

His stomach turned over, and he knew it wasn’t just because he was looking at a cat. Without really thinking about it, he brought down his hand gently, touching the top of the kitten. He let out a little cry of alarm when he felt that it was shivering like mad. 

“I can’t believe I’m doing this, I can’t believe I’m doing this, I can’t believe I’m doing this-” he muttered quickly to himself as he drew his hand back, smearing it over his pants multiple times before pulling down the edges of his sleeves to cover his skin, touching the kitten like it was glass as he scooped it up into his palm. Then, making an unhappy whining sound, he speedwalked the rest of the way home, split between shielding the kitten from the rain, and also keeping it as far away from his face and body as possible.

He got home and muttered angrily to himself about how the universe had to pick him and not Jumin Han to find this mess, all while grabbing a towel to put the kitten onto and setting it on his kitchen counter. Then he quickly looked up some information on his phone, completely at a loss for what he should do. He knew he should take the kitten to a shelter or something, but he didn’t know where that was, and he was worried he had to do something for the kitten first. 

“Okay! Warm up the kitten- I can... do that... I think.” he mumbled, looking down at the meowing kitten. Looking at the information and pictures available, he could tell it was probably a couple weeks old, which made him feel a little more at ease. 

“At least I know you’re tough, if you’ve survived for this long.” he sighed, still not even certain he was right about that. He carefully started to rub the kitten with the edge of the towel, cringing as it made squeaky noises. He didn’t want to hurt it! He was being gentle! Were these good noises, or bad noises?!

He groaned again, pulling out his phone and dialing a number he absolutely hated calling. But there was no one else he knew to ask.

“Zen, what do you need?”

“I don’t NEED anything from you-” he had to stop the automatic response once he heard the low emotionless voice of Jumin Han on the other end of his phone. 

“I mean- okay, I need something from you.”

There was silence.

“Not anything like money!!! Don’t even think about it! I just need advice!!!”

“Advice?”

“C- ahh- c- CAT cat advice.” 

“Zen are you getting a cat?” Jumin’s tone instantly changed.

“NO! NEVER! But I- I found a kitten outside in the rain, I know it needs help- but I don’t know what to do- I can’t tell if it’s upset or dying or okay or-”

“What are you doing to it?”

“I’m just trying to keep it warm right now. I was going to give it some milk or-”

“Don’t give it milk, giving a cat basic cow milk is a myth, it gives them stomach problems and it’s not nutritious enough, so they’ll starve to death if that’s all you feed them.”

Zen pursed his lips, silent for a moment before exclaiming in a frustrated voice,

“THEN TELL ME WHAT TO DO, THIS THING IS TOO FRAGILE FOR ME TO BREATHE AROUND I GUESS.”

“Oh just wait a minute, don’t do anything, just keep it warm until I get there.” 

“WHAT, DON’T COME OVER HERE, I JUST WANTED BASIC ADVICE BEFORE I SEND IT AWAY TO A VET, IF I KEEP IT HERE ANY LONGER I’LL PROBABLY HAVE TO MOVE OUT OF MY APARTMENT DUE TO ALLERGIES-” Zen stopped when he realized that the man had already hung up.

“Uuuugh.... This is your fault.” he muttered, looking down at the kitten who wasn’t mewing as much as it had been earlier, but still blindly feeling around itself. Zen bent over the kitten a little bit, frowning.

He then, regretting his actions already, traced his finger against its head. He pulled back in surprise when he heard it purr. He had felt it under its skin, and it had made a chill run through him. He leaned forward again, finding himself shaking a little himself as he ran his fingers over the cat again. It started purring again, and he let out a nervous exhale. 

“You’re still wet... I wonder how long it’ll take for me to start sneezing.” he said, amazed that he’d been able to even get this far. The kitten squirmed a little, meowing again, and he continued to rub it gently. 

Then his eyes widened as it grabbed at his finger with its paws. They were  _ so soft. _ He could feel it’s tiny little claws poking out above it’s small pink pads, but it didn’t hurt. 

He couldn’t believe it.

Something this weird looking, even ugly, could actually be kind of cute at the same time.

_ Did I seriously just think that?! _

Zen moaned, shaking his head before looking back down at the kitten. Now that he’d had the thought once it was impossible to stop himself now. It was cute. It was tiny and needed help, and all he wanted was for it to be okay.

“Okay, I’m allowed to think that ONE cat in this world is alright. Just the one. As long as I can keep my distance when possible.” he said as he continued to let the kitten paw weakly at his finger. 

“If I can relate to any cat, it’ll probably a kitten living on the street I suppose...”

 

\-----

 

Zen was holding the small kitten in his arms when Jumin arrived, and he was caught smiling as it purred happily in response to his fingers stroking it carefully. Jumin looked at him and then down at the cat, two large cases in his hand. He set them down without a word, looking away from Zen as he reached into his pocket, pulling out a small pill bottle.

“What’s that for? Is he sick?” Zen asked, sounding a little worried and looking back down at the kitten. 

“It’s for you. Allergy pills, good ones. Your eyes are red.” Jumin said simply, and Zen raised his eyebrows in surprise. Now that Jumin had pointed it out, Zen realized that his eyes  _ were _ itchy, and he was having trouble breathing. 

“You take these, and I’ll take the kitten.” Jumin said, shaking the pills a little. Zen frowned, seeming to snap out of whatever trance he had been in.

“I can hold him! He’s cold- I’m keeping him warm! And I didn’t ask you to come over anyways, I just needed your advice!”

“I brought a heating pad along with anything a kitten will need. More than even a shelter would be able to provide, hand me the cat, Zen.” Jumin said flatly, and Zen grumpily traded Jumin the cat for the pill bottle. 

“Be- be careful of his head, make sure you’re holding him under his-”

“Zen, I appreciate the fact that you’ve had this wonderous realization that cats are truly the most amazing of all earth’s creatures, but I think I know a little more about them than you do.” Jumin sighed, holding the kitten with confidence as he walked over to the kitchen counter where Zen had piled some towels together. 

“I didn’t- No! I still don’t like cats! I just- he’s different- okay? He reminds me of when I was on the street and-”

“By the way, this kitten is a girl.” Jumin sighed, and Zen blushed, feeling kind of dumb now. But he still got a little closer, looking at the kitten again carefully mumbling,

“It’s a girl...?” 

“Yes. And she’s very cute. I think she’s a Turkish Van...? Maybe a Maine Coon.” Jumin mumbled, scratching the kitten’s belly and making it mew softly. Zen then felt what he knew as jealousy, immediately mad at himself for even feeling something like that over a cat, and he turned around, folding his arms. 

Jumin glanced over at the man who was trying to avoid eye contact, and then he looked back down at the wriggling kitten.

“...You were wonderful at keeping her warm. She might of died without your help so I’m glad you found her. Good job, Zen.” Jumin said, and Zen glanced back towards him, looking a little unsure of what to say.

“O-Oh, right. Of course. I’m... I’m glad I heard her.” He felt a little better about everything now, smiling to himself and missing the small smile on Jumin’s face in return. 

“Now take those pills and start to unpack those bags I brought. If this kitten was any sicker I would have called for the vet waiting in the car outside, but she seems to be strong enough that we can help her. That doesn’t mean we don’t have a limited time to help her however.”

“You... you have a vet in the car and you didn’t bring them in?” Zen said with a tinge of annoyance. Jumin nodded, looking back down at the kitten as he explained,

“Of course. I’ve rescued a stray kitten once or twice before, but nothing like this. I wanted to test what I’ve learned on my own so far without a vet.” 

Zen shook his head, muttering as he swallowed his small dose of pills, and then unpacking the bags that Jumin had brought in. There was a heating pad, blankets, kitten formula, tiny baby bottles with different tips on them, and multiple other things that Zen had no clue on. He was half mad and half happy that Jumin had over prepared this time. It annoyed him how extravagant the man was, but he was also grateful that it was all to help the kitten.

“She looks about two weeks old, so she should be fed every two or three hours. Zen, please make a bottle of formula, the instructions are on the container.” Jumin instructed after they had the heating pad ready and the kitten was snuggled up against it.

“O-Okay!” Zen nodded, immediately grabbing out the supplies as Jumin busied himself with the kitten. 

As Zen was mixing the formula up Jumin glanced at him and said, letting the kitten bite at his fingers,

“She should have a name.”

“Don’t you dare give her a tacky weird name like your cat, if you call her Elizabeth the fourth or something I won’t forgive you.”

“That wouldn’t even make sense, seeing as there was no Elizabeth the first or second before her. And in any case, I was going to ask  _ you _ to name her. You were the one to find her anyways.” Jumin said, rolling his eyes. Zen pursed his lips, looking down at the kitten and trying to decide.

Then he smiled and announced in english,

“Princess!” 

“How very tacky.”

“WHAT-”

“But fitting still. Alright, you feed her now.” Jumin sidestepped the angry man’s complaints, showing him how to hold her head and feed her, watching carefully. Zen went silent immediately, blinking wide eyed at the cat who latched onto the bottle quickly, pawing up into the air and kneading into the palm of his hand.

“It... kind of hurts. Her claws are so sharp and tiny.”

“You’ll be fine.”

“I know, but I don’t see why you or anyone else would be crazy enough to let something with little knives run around your house.”

“You don’t understand why?” Jumin asked, folding his arms and giving Zen a knowing look. Zen pouted, looking down at the little fuzzball again. He did. He just didn’t want to admit it.

\------

 


End file.
